Shipping container



C. KNOTH, JR

SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Oct. 16, 1922 [NI EN OR 1/ I ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

'U N H ED STA TEES F ATE lfizdddd CONRAD KNO'IH, JR, 033 R-ID GEW O'O'D, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOROF ONE-HALF TO JOHN T. BLADEN, OFBROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SHIPPING CONTAINER.

Application filed October 16, 1922.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, CoNnAnKNormJL, a citizen-of the United States,.and a resident of .Ridgewood, sinzthe county ofQu'eens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shipping Containers, of which the following is a specification.

Where merchandise is :packed for handling or shipping in boxes or cartons which are tied with rope, cord, string or tape it is possible to extricate part or all of the contents by manipulating .the rope on the boxand by getting'the hands in between the-flanges of the boxiand cover. This is possible even where the .rope or cord is passed several times around the box or carton lengthwise and crosswise. It may be done even without untying the .rope or cord and even where the latter is sealed. Express companies are continually called upon to meet claims :for shortage claimed by consignees and in such cases it is dillicult to determine whether part of the contents has been removed while [the package was in transit or whether the consignor failed .to ship the :full amount, or whether the consignee is making a italse claim for shortage. It is especially annoying where the rope or tcord has been sealed by the consignor and where sthe consignee receives the package with the seal unbroken.

The object of my invention is to provide a device which will prevent the surreptt Pious removal of part or all of the contents cil a receptacle between the time it is sealed by the'consign'or and the time it is received with an unbroken seal by the consignee. The present invention provides a very simple, inexpensive and etlicient means for preventingtheft 'or losses and the receptacle may be just as quickly packed, tied and sealed as the ordinary containers now in general use.

The invention comprises the receptacle proper whichmay be a box or carton, and a string, rope, cord or tape, so arranged that it cannot be manipulated to permit the hand to be inserted into the receptacle without breaking the seal and thereby revealing the fact that the package has been tampered with.

In the drawing forming part of this applicat-ion,

Figure 1 a perspective view of a ship- Serial No. 594,681.

ping box or carton containing my improve ments.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the box body as prepared to be packed, the cover being removed.

The receptacle may be of any shape and size and it may be of any material although the principal application of my invention will probably be to cardboard or corrugated board or similar boxes. In the drawing I have shown a box such as is used for shipping suits, dresses, shirts and the like. It comprises the body 1 having side walls or flange 2 and a bottom 3 forming a compartment l to hold the articles or goods to be shipped; and a cover 5 which has a top 6 and side and end walls 7, 8, which slide or fit over the walls of the body to form a complete closure for the articles.

The body members 1 is provided with apertures to permit the tying member to be passed through and I prefer to arrange these in the opposite end walls just below the edge of the coverend walls 8. I have shown for this purpose an eyelet 9 in the end wall of the body member and another eyelet 10 in the opposite wall and close to the bottom. Before the box is packed for shipment, a rope, cord, string or tape 11, (rope will be used hereinafter broadly to designate any of these) is passed through the opposite eyelets 9, 10 asshown in Figure 3, and a knot 12 is tied in this rope to lie near the eyelet 9 and another knot 13 is tied in the rope to lie near the eyelet 10. For convenience, these ropes may be supplied with these two knots tied in the positions required for any definite size box. The run let of rope between these knots is approximately the. length of the box at the inside of the body member 1, although great ac curacy in the placing of the knots is not absolutely necessary. The ends beyond the respective knots being passed through the eyelets as shown in Figure 3, it will be apparent that if the end 15 of the rope is pull ed the knot 12 being larger than the aperture in the eyelet 9 the ropecan not be pulled beyond the point where the knot comes up against the eyelet or the wall 16. If the end 17 of the rope is pulled to the right, the rope can not be shifted beyond the point where the knot 13 comes up against the eyelet or the wall 18 because this knot is larger than the hole in the eyelet.

With the rope disposed as shown in Figure 3 the articles or goods are placed in the compartment 4; and then the cover is placed on the box. The rope may be passed around the box in many diiferent ways, but I have shown one method which will serve the purpose very satisfactorily. One of the ends of the rope, say the end 17 may be carried around the end of the cover to the point 19 and thence laterally at 20 and around the box and cover, back near the point 19 where a knot 21 is formed. From there the rope passes longitudinally of the box at 22 to the point .13 when it is again carried laterally at 24- to pass again around the box and cover, back near the point 23 where another knot 25 is tied. From there the rope passes down over the end of the cover and the two ends are oined by a knot 26. The ends are then sealed by means of a seal 27 such as are commonly used for such purposes, so that the ends can not be untied and separated without destroying the seal and immediately revealing this fact.

The knots 21 and 25 are preferably the kind shown in the drawing or some equiva lent knots which will not permit the lateral runs 20, 24 of the rope to slide relatively to the longitudinal run 22.

In order that a person might surreptitiously remove part of the contents of the receptacle without breaking the seal it is necessary to either so manipulate the rope as to remove it entirely from the receptacle without breaking the seal, and to afterwards replace the rope again, also without breaking the seal, both of which have heretofore been done; or else to so manipulate the rope as to work the lateral runs down near one end of the receptacle or to work the longitudinal run over near one side. In the first case, the cover could be lifted off and any part or all of the contents could be removed and when the rope was replaced on the box without breaking the seal it was impossible for the consignee or the carrier to determine whether the box had been opened, or in what part of its transit it had been tampered with. In the second case, the rope having been moved to-0ne end or to one side of the receptacle it was possible to lift up one edge, one end, or one corner (iii of the cover sufiiciently to get the hand in and remove some article from the receptacle and to'then move the rope back to its original position, all without breaking the seal. Neither of these operations can'be performed with the present device. The

, lateral runs 20, 24 can not be moved toward the right hand end of'th e' box in Figure 1 because this would pull on the longitudinal run 22 toward theright because the knots 21, 25 will not permit the lateral runs to slide along the longitudinal run. Any pull of the run 22 to the right will be resisted by the knot 12 which comes up against the end wall 8 and this knot being inside the receptacle it can not be tampered with. Any attempt to slide the lateral runs of the rope to the left will exert a pull to the left 7 on the longitudinal run 22 and this will be resisted by'the knot 13 which is also enclosed within the box. Therefore, the lateral runs of the rope can not be slid lengthwise along the box.

If any attempt 1s madeto slide the lon gitudinal run of the rope laterally of the box this will also be resisted because the rope can not be pulled laterally away from the points where it passes through the eyelets 9, 10. i

From the above it will. be apparent thatthe rope can not be manipulated toward one side or toward one end of the box nor be removed from the boxentirely without breaking the seal, which is the object of my invention, and this prevents the insertion of thehand into onecorner or one side or one end of the boxto remove any part of the contents. Of course, this invention can not prevent stealing in the. same manner that a safe is intended to but its purpose is to prevent the removal of any part of the contents without showing immediately that the box has been opened.

In referring to the ends and sides of the box and to lateral and longitudinal displacement, this is only to distinguish dlfr ferent sides of the box for descriptive purposes. The box may be equilateral in which case any side may be considered as the end or a side. a 7

The eyelets 9, 10 may not be essential in all cases as simple unlined aperturesin the box for the-rope topass through may serve the purpose. 7 e 7 Having described my invention What I claim is:-- r 7' 1 1. A receptacle comprising a box body having a bottom. wall and a flange forming side walls, opposite side walls of said flange 7 said box having a run lying within and extending across said body and passing through said apertured walls of the body, said rope passing around said body and cover and having knots within said body for engaging said apertured walls for lim- V iting the lengthwise shifting of said run lying within the said body, for the purpose set forth. V

2. A: receptacle comprising a box body having a bottom Wall, and a flangeforming side walls a coverfor the body having a top wall and a fiangefadapted to enclose the flange of the b odyyja rope on said box,

having a run lying within and extending across said body and passing through opposite walls of its flange, said rope having knots therein disposed within said body and adapted to engage with the walls thereof through which said run passes, to limit the lengthwise shifting of said run, said rope thence passing around said body and cover in different directions to provide cross runs connected at their points of crossing.

3. A receptacle comprising a box body having a bottom wall, and a flange form ing side walls, a cover for the body having a top wall and a flange adapted to enclose the flange of the body, a rope on said box, having a run lying within and extending across said body and passing through opposite walls of the flange, said rope having knots therein disposed within said body and adapted to engage with the Walls thereof through which said run passes to limit the lengthwise shifting of said run, said rope passlng around said body and cover to form a lengthwise run and a plurality of crosswise runs, said lengthwise and crosswise runs being connected at their points of crossing.

4. A receptacle comprising a box body having a bottom wall and a flange forming side walls, a cover for the body having a top wall and a flange adapted to enclose the flangeof the body, a rope on said box,

aving a run lying within and extending across said body adjacent the bottom wall and passing through opposite walls of the flange adjacent the lower edge of the cover flange said rope having knots therein disposed within said body and adapted to engage with the walls thereof through which said run passes to limit the lengthwise shifting of said run, said rope passing around said cover and said body to form lengthwise and crosswise runs, said latter runs being connected at their points of crossing.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 11th day of October, 1922.

CONRAD KNOTH, Jm. 

